Late W124

[Dieselman]

That looks tidy enough.
I'd be changing the heavy duty suspension for normal springs for a nicer ride, unless you're intending carrying a family of eight.

 

[219]

I knew the Indian cars had a higher ride height to cope with dirt roads encountered in some places out there . I will wait until I've driven it before deciding whether to change anything - it might actually be good for some of the farm tracks and potholed country roads around here which wreak havoc on the suspensions of our other cars ( almost enough to make one buy a Citroen ) .

In any case , I just want to get the car running and use it for a few weeks without changing anything - only once I'm happy that it is sound and reliable will I start spending any more than the minimum neccessary on it .J

It will , of course , be serviced imminently , by me , since the last recorded service was at 89,000 miles in 2008 !

 

[230K]

A OM605 with manual box will go Ok. The W201 used the lower performance OM603 engine.

The OM605 thrives on revs being a 20valve engine.

This is the thread for numerical typos......

The W201 used the lower performance OM602 and the 601 of course

230K

 

[Buster'stheboy]

I knew the Indian cars had a higher ride height to cope with dirt roads encountered in some places out there . I will wait until I've driven it before deciding whether to change anything - it might actually be good for some of the farm tracks and potholed country roads around here which wreak havoc on the suspensions of our other cars ( almost enough to make one buy a Citroen ) .

Agree. Some of the rural roads round here are probably worse than India's.

My car hadn't been serviced since 2009 when I bought it in Feb. this year. Cost me more than the car to have it done!

EDIT:
Why hasn't it got a bonnet star? Broken or never had one?

 

[Dieselman]

EDIT:
Why hasn't it got a bonnet star? Broken or never had one?

It's been snapped off, you can see the hole in the mount.

Mine actually flew off one day while driving...

 

[219]

As an update to this , the car was MOT'd last week and , although we were awaiting the V5c in order to tax it ( the previous owner lost it and , after giving him time to find it , we eventually sent off to DVLA for it ) .

After Jan's unfortunate accident in the Hyundai yesterday , she is away up to the licencing office in Glasgow , where they confirmed over the phone yesterday , they will be able to issue us a tax disc even though we have neither the document , new keeper supplement nor reminder .

The car should therefore be back on the road later today , after a three year lay up .

 

[Seamster15]

Good luck Derek.

 

[kth286]

I'm surprised it has leather interior.

Do think that is original or retro fit ?

What does data card say ?

 

[219]

It is original grey leather , as noted on the data card , the air con is probably standard for India , also has reading lamps in the rear .

 

[219]

I took a few more pictures of the car when I was up in Dundee last Friday

Exteriors

The one really bad bit , a fairly common problem , and probably a new wing at some point in the future

 

[219]

Some interior shots

Including the usual problem - I will look out for a good passenger seat , with armrest , in the same material and then swap ober the armrestless passenger seat from this car over to the other side .

Four pedals is just one too many though !

 

[219]

And a few of the engine bay

Slight leak from the oil filler cap

The tensioner for the poly belt which is due to be replaced

 

[219]

As a bit of an update to this thread , I seem to have 'inherited' this car for myself .

I originally gave the car to Jan to use in place of her Hyundai after its unfortunate accident , and she has used it quite happily these past few months without any problems .

Just last week , however , my sister spotted a very nice low mileage Golf Diesel in her local dealership and decided to update her old one ; when she did her sums regarding a trade in deal versus no trade in and haggling for discount there was nothing in it - so she GAVE us her old Golf Diesel Estate ! I gave Jan the choice of keeping the merc or running the Golf and after a test drive decided she was having the Golf - admittedly the 115 bhp turbo diesel in a smaller car was always going to be faster , but it is surprising just how much faster it is ; it is also quite frugal with its 6 speed manual box . The car has been well looked after with FVWSH , a recent cam belt , 4 recent Continental tyres and a recent air con service so it wants for nothing . We are still waiting for my sister to take her cherished plate off the car , after which it will go back onto an X reg .

In the meantime , I will run the 124 as a daily driver , which will give me a chance to do some work on the 126 . I was planning to replace the discs and pads soon anyway , besides needing to change some suspension bushes to eliminate some nasty clonks that have appeared recently ! I will also now have time to look at retrofitting my rear SLS which I have been collecting parts for - none of these things being easy to do when using the car on a more or less daily basis .

The 124 is a very pleasant car to drive , even if one has to adopt a more sedate driving style compared to the 500 , and will do fine for my daily commute of 35 or so miles each way . I will need to change the gearbox at some point since it whines noisily in every gear apart from 4th ; but I did get a spare gearbox with the car , so a job for next summer once I have the 500 sorted out , it will obviously make sense to change the clutch at the same time since the car now has 104K on the clock , even if there are no apparent problems with it . I do miss automatic transmission going onto this car , but since most of my commute is A road and motorway , not too much gear changing is needed .

 

[Dieselman]

As a bit of an update to this thread , I seem to have 'inherited' this car for myself .

The worm has turned.

If I went in a Diesel , my head would be splitting with the diesel drone after that distance

I still won't change my car - I always end up with a headache after so long in a Diesel with the constant drone , even if not obvious at first .

I'd still rather go 20 miles in my car than 45 in the alternative

I'd far rather drive a quality car at some expense to myself than have to endure a horrid , plastic box of unreliable electrickery which sounds like a tractor at the lights and is running out of steam just when my cars are getting into their stride .

I was photographing a golf tournament the other week where one of those was the prize for a hole in one - I thought it was a disgusting looking lump of plastic that I would be embarrassed to have parked outside my house ; I feel much the same about most new cars .

Especially bland Golfs...

 

[219]

At the moment I can't hear the engine above the noise from the whining gearbox so I just turn up the radio to drown it out .

 

[219]

Well , since I started racking up 70 miles a day using this car to get to work ( as opposed to Jan's daily commute of a mile to the railway station ) the gearbox started to deteriorate rapidly : whining in all gears , jumping out of all except 5th with a change of throttle - clearly it was not going to last much longer .

Much as I hate giving money to garages , it is absolutely Baltic outside just now , so no time for DIY . I put it into a local garage , asking them to swap the boxes over and put in a new clutch at the same time ( nothing wrong with the old clutch but daft not to do it on a car with 100K up ) .

First bit of bad news was that the gearbox supplied with the car was wrong ( this despite me checking and finding a 124 number on the side of the casing ) - turns out this box is for a 202 and has no speedo drive ....

Did a bit of looking on eBay and could not see another of the correct box for sale . The alternative of getting the existing box fixed was likely to be upwards of £500 . This along with a couple of hundred for the clutch kit , before any labour was added and we are looking at more than the car is worth - when I could buy a whole , working W124 for less !

Then there was the dual mass flywheel which the mechanic reckoned was on the way out .... hard to determine exactly which one from the EPC , but they go upwards from around £300 and some are more like £600 . Oh , and the centre bushing on the propshaft needs changed as well .

All in , I could potentially be looking at a two grand bill on a £500 car ! Just because they are cheap to buy does not make them any cheaper to maintain . I could do it , but I feel it would be throwing good money after bad .

I have told the garage just to bolt it all back together and I will pay them for their time thus far .

I'm now inclined to find another W124 which runs OK , swap the new/best parts over from this one , then see if anyone wants a late registered 124 with a knackered gearbox but still MOT'd .

I did see someone selling an autobox from an E250D , but nice as the end result would be , I feel it would be too much hassle .

I'm a little sad about it as these late cars are quite rare , but haven't had it long enough to become attached to it , so my head is telling me to cut my losses .

 

[Charles Morgan]

my head is telling me to cut my losses .

Wise head. What you have spent is sunk and gone.

Better luck with the next one!

 

[grober]

This thread might be of interest? om603 clutch options.

 

[219]

I have now put this car in the classifieds section , in the hope that another W124 enthusiast will want to save it .

I am asking £250 for the car as it stands without the road tax , or an extra £100 if you want me to leave the six months unexpired tax on it . Tax and MOT to June next year .

Having looked around , I think I will be replacing it with a W203 estate .

 

[neilrr]

Why don't you just park it until a tranny surfaces & the weather improves, then DIY it?